Sandshrew (Pokémon)

Sandshrew サンド Sand
Artwork from FR/LG
Pronunciation	sand-shroo [1]
Type	Ground
Species	Mouse Pokémon
Kanto Dex National Dex	#027
Johto Dex	#048
Hoenn Dex	#112
Sinnoh Dex	#—
Fiore Browser	R—
Almia Browser	R-194
Height	2′00″ (0.6m)
Weight	26.5 lbs. (12.0kg)
Ability	Sand Veil
Egg group	Ground
Time to hatch	5,120 steps
Effort yield	1 Def
Exp. yield	93 base exp.
Lv. 100 at	1,000,000 exp.
Gender	50% ♀/50% ♂
Pokédex color	Yellow
Catch rate	255
Footprint
Body style
On Legendary Pokémon Pokédex: Generation III Generation IV On Pokémon Palace Network Pokédex (Gen. I-III) On Smogon Pokédex: Generation I Generation II Generation III Generation IV On Eevee's Pokédex (Gen. I-IV) On Psypoke Pokédex On Pokecharms Pokédex (Gen. III-IV) On Marriland Pokédex (Gen. IV) On Serebii's Pokédex: Generation I/II Generation III Generation IV On Azure Heights Pokédex (Gen. I) On Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex (Gen. I-II) On Ultimate Pokémon Center Pokédex (Gen. I-IV) Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Sandshrew (Japanese: サンド Sand) is a Ground-type Pokémon.

It evolves into Sandslash at level 22.

Contents 1 Biology 1.1 Physiology 1.1.1 Gender differences 1.2 Special abilities 1.3 Behavior 1.4 Habitat 1.5 Diet 2 In the anime 3 In the manga 3.1 In the Pokémon Special manga 4 In the TCG 5 Game data 5.1 Pokédex entries 5.2 Game locations 5.2.1 In side games 5.3 Base stats 5.4 Type effectiveness 5.5 Learnset 5.5.1 By leveling up 5.5.2 By TM/HM 5.5.3 By breeding 5.5.4 By tutoring 5.6 Side game data 5.7 Evolution 5.8 Sprites 6 Trivia 6.1 Origin 6.1.1 Name origin 7 In other languages 8 External links 9 Notes

Biology

Physiology

A Sandshrew is a ground-dwelling rodent notable for its defensive capabilities. Its body is mostly covered in a dry, tough hide which is colored to blend in with the sands of the desert. It can curl into a tight ball about the same size as a basketball to protect its soft underbelly. Its primary weapon is the small but sharp claws on its paws, which are also useful for burrowing and can sometimes be poisoned.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Sandshrew's special abilities are extremely limited compared to other Pokémon. It has a greater control over the ground and sand than the average Pokémon, mostly derived from adaptation to its habitat.

Behavior

In the wild, Sandshrew are mostly defensive by nature. They spend much of their time hidden underground in their burrows and will kick up sand or curl into a ball to escape predators. They may venture out to hunt, taking advantage of the desert sands to hide themselves.

However, with the help of a trainer, a Sandshrew can become bolder and much more daring, and can even be trained to swim despite the fact that they are weakened by the water. They are still fond of curling up, though, even if not for defense.

Habitat

They are adapted to dry, arid areas. Thus, they can be commonly found in deserts and grasslands, and sometimes in river valleys or the upper levels of caves as well. Wherever they are, they live underground in burrows.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

Sandshrew do not require a lot of water, due to a very efficient system of staying hydrated with minimal moisture. They hunt for prey in the wild.

In the anime

An ailing Sandshrew is seen briefly near the beginning of Clefairy and the Moon Stone.

Sandshrew was first featured in The Path to the Pokémon League. It was owned by a Pokémon trainer named A.J.. Despite A.J.'s seemly barbaric training methods (e.g. using a whip), it was very loyal to him.

A Sandshrew was one of the Pokémon that played Hide-n-Seek in Pikachu's PikaBoo. Sandshrew hid in front of a brick wall.

Mira enlists Ash and his friends to help her retrieve her Sandshrew that is lost at the bottom of an artificial lake created by a dammed river in Sandshrew's Locker!.

A Sandshrew appeared in DP088.

In the manga

Professor Oak had a Sandshrew in the Electric Tale of Pikachu.

In the Pokémon Special manga

Sandshrew makes a cameo in Onix is On!, part of the Red, Green & Blue chapter, battling against Red's Bulbasaur as a Pewter Gym trainer's Pokémon.

Red had a Sandshrew in Pokémon Special he uses to fight Fire-types.

In the TCG

Main article: Sandshrew (TCG)

Game data

Pokédex entries

Gen	Game	Pokédex entry
I	Red	Burrows deep underground in arid locations far from water. It only emerges to hunt for food.
	Blue
	Yellow	Its body is dry. When it gets cold at night, its hide is said to become coated with a fine dew.
	Stadium	When hunting, it hides at the lip of its burrow. If prey comes close, it lunges out and drags in the prey instantly.
II	Gold	If it fell from a great height, this Pokémon could save itself by rolling into a ball and bouncing.
	Silver	Disliking water, it lives in deep burrows in arid areas. It can roll itself instantly into a ball.
	Crystal	It prefers dry, sandy places because it uses the sand to protect itself when threatened.
	Stadium 2	If it fell from a great height, this Pokémon could save itself by rolling into a ball and bouncing.
III	Ruby	Sandshrew's body is configured to absorb water without waste, enabling it to survive in an arid desert. This Pokémon curls up to protect itself from its enemies.
	Sapphire	Sandshrew has a very dry hide that is extremely tough. The Pokémon can roll into a ball that repels any attack. At night, it burrows into the desert sand to sleep.
	Emerald	When it curls up in a ball, it can make any attack bounce off harmlessly. Its hide has turned tough and solid as a result of living in the desert.
	FireRed	It burrows and lives underground. If threatened, it curls itself up into a ball for protection.
	LeafGreen	Burrows deep underground in arid locations far from water. It only emerges to hunt for food.
IV	Diamond	To protect itself from attackers, it curls up into a ball. It lives in arid regions with minimal rainfall.
	Pearl	To protect itself from attackers, it curls up into a ball. It lives in arid regions with minimal rainfall.
	Platinum	Currently unknown

Game locations

Gen	Game		Rarity	Location
I	Red	Blue	Few	Routes 4, 11, and 23
	Yellow		Uncommon	Routes 3 and 4, Mt. Moon
II	Gold	Silver	Few	Routes 4, 32, Union Cave, Mt. Moon
	Crystal		Uncommon	Routes 2, 4, Union Cave, Mt. Moon
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Uncommon	Route 113
	Emerald		Common	Routes 111, 113, Mirage Tower
	FireRed	LeafGreen	Uncommon	Routes 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23
	Colosseum		None	Trade
	XD		Uncommon	Rock Poké Spot
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Dongle	Wayward Cave (LeafGreen)
	Platinum		Dongle	Wayward Cave (LeafGreen)
	Pal Park			Mountain

In side games

Game	Location
Pokémon Snap	Valley
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire	Hatch from egg
Pokémon Trozei!	Secret Storage 2 Huge Storage 3 Endless Level 9 Mr. Who's Den
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Red and Blue)	Magma Cavern (1F-6F) Buried Relic (36F-59F) Desert Region (1F-6F) Joyous Tower (68F-73F)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Time and Darkness)	Northern Desert (1F-15F) Shimmer Desert (1F-9F)
Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia	Chroma Ruins

Base stats

HP:	50
Attack:	75
Defense:	85
Special:	30
SpAtk:	20
SpDef:	30
Speed:	40

The Special stat was used only in Generation I; it was later split into Special Attack and Special Defense.

Type effectiveness

Weak to	Resistant to	Immune to	Normal effectiveness
Grass : 2×  Water : 2×  Ice : 2×	Poison : ½×  Rock : ½×	Electric : 0×	Normal : 1×  Fighting : 1×  Flying : 1×  Ground : 1×  Bug : 1×  Ghost : 1×  Steel : 1×  Fire : 1×  Psychic : 1×  Dragon : 1×  Dark : 1×

Learnset

Sandshrew is capable of learning the following moves.
Moves in bold are damage moves to which STAB apply.

By leveling up

Generation IV Other generation learnsets: I - II - III
Level	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP	Contest	Appeal
Start	Scratch	Normal	Physical	40	100%	35	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
3	Defense Curl	Normal	Status	—	—%	40	Cute	2 ♥♥
7	Sand-Attack	Ground	Status	—	100%	15	Cute	2 ♥♥
9	Poison Sting	Poison	Physical	15	100%	35	Smart	2 ♥♥
13	Rapid Spin	Normal	Physical	20	100%	40	Cool	2 ♥♥
15	Swift	Normal	Special	60	—%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
19	Fury Swipes	Normal	Physical	18	80%	15	Tough	2 ♥♥
21	Rollout	Rock	Physical	30	90%	20	Tough	2 ♥♥
25	Fury Cutter	Bug	Physical	10	95%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
27	Sand Tomb	Ground	Physical	15	70%	15	Smart	0
31	Slash	Normal	Physical	70	100%	20	Cool	3 ♥♥♥
33	Gyro Ball	Steel	Physical	—	100%	5	Beauty	2 ♥♥
37	Sandstorm	Rock	Status	—	—%	10	Tough	2 ♥♥
Bold indicates a move that gets STAB Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only from an evolution of this Pokémon

By TM/HM

Generation IV Other generation learnsets: I - II - III
TM	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP	Contest	Appeal
TM01	Focus Punch	Fighting	Physical	150	100%	20	Tough	1 ♥
TM06	Toxic	Poison	Status	—	85%	10	Smart	2 ♥♥
TM10	Hidden Power	Normal	Special	—	100%	15	Smart	1 ♥
TM11	Sunny Day	Fire	Status	—	—%	5	Beauty	2 ♥♥
TM17	Protect	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Cute	0
TM21	Frustration	Normal	Physical	—	100%	20	Cute	2 ♥♥
TM23	Iron Tail	Steel	Physical	100	75%	15	Cool	2 ♥♥
TM26	Earthquake	Ground	Physical	100	100%	10	Tough	2 ♥♥
TM27	Return	Normal	Physical	—	100%	20	Cute	2 ♥♥
TM28	Dig	Ground	Physical	80	100%	10	Smart	1 ♥
TM31	Brick Break	Fighting	Physical	75	100%	15	Cool	3 ♥♥♥
TM32	Double Team	Normal	Status	—	—%	15	Cool	2 ♥♥
TM37	Sandstorm	Rock	Status	—	—%	10	Tough	2 ♥♥
TM39	Rock Tomb	Rock	Physical	50	80%	10	Smart	2 ♥♥
TM40	Aerial Ace	Flying	Physical	60	—%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
TM42	Facade	Normal	Physical	70	100%	20	Cute	2 ♥♥
TM43	Secret Power	Normal	Physical	70	100%	20	Smart	2 ♥♥
TM44	Rest	Psychic	Status	—	—%	10	Cute	0
TM45	Attract	Normal	Status	—	100%	15	Cute	2 ♥♥
TM46	Thief	Dark	Physical	40	100%	10	Tough	0
TM52	Focus Blast	Fighting	Special	120	70%	5	Cool	0
TM56	Fling	Dark	Physical	—	100%	10	Tough	1 ♥
TM58	Endure	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Tough	2 ♥♥
TM65	Shadow Claw	Ghost	Physical	70	100%	15	Cute	2 ♥♥
TM74	Gyro Ball	Steel	Physical	—	100%	5	Beauty	2 ♥♥
TM75	Swords Dance	Normal	Status	—	—%	30	Beauty	0
TM76	Stealth Rock	Rock	Status	—	—%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
TM78	Captivate	Normal	Status	—	100%	20	Beauty	2 ♥♥
TM80	Rock Slide	Rock	Physical	75	90%	10	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
TM81	X-Scissor	Bug	Physical	80	100%	15	Beauty	0
TM82	Sleep Talk	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Cute	3 ♥♥♥
TM83	Natural Gift	Normal	Physical	—	100%	15	Cool	2 ♥♥
TM84	Poison Jab	Poison	Physical	80	100%	20	Smart	0
TM87	Swagger	Normal	Status	—	90%	15	Cute	2 ♥♥
TM90	Substitute	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Smart	1 ♥
HM01	Cut	Normal	Physical	50	95%	30	Cool	3 ♥♥♥
HM04	Strength	Normal	Physical	80	100%	15	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
HM06	Rock Smash	Fighting	Physical	40	100%	15	Tough	2 ♥♥
HM08	Rock Climb	Normal	Physical	90	85%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
Bold indicates a move that gets STAB Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only from an evolution of this Pokémon

By breeding

Generation IV Other generation learnsets: II - III
Father	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP	Contest	Appeal
Slakoth, Vigoroth, Slaking Lucario	Counter	Fighting	Physical	—	100%	20	Tough	2 ♥♥
Sandslash Zangoose	Crush Claw	Normal	Physical	75	95%	10	Cool	3 ♥♥♥
Dunsparce Phanpy, Donphan Zigzagoon, Linoone Torkoal Spinda	Flail	Normal	Physical	—	100%	15	Cute	2 ♥♥
Sneasel, Weavile Prinplup, Empoleon	Metal Claw	Steel	Physical	50	95%	35	Cool	2 ♥♥
Dugtrio Meowth, Persian Farfetch'd Seviper Absol Stunky, Skuntank Weavile	Night Slash	Dark	Physical	70	100%	15	Beauty	3 ♥♥♥
Sandshrew, Sandslash Donphan Torkoal	Rapid Spin	Normal	Physical	20	100%	40	Cool	2 ♥♥
Camerupt	Rock Slide	Rock	Physical	75	90%	10	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
Vulpix, Ninetales Seel, Dewgong	Safeguard	Normal	Status	—	—%	25	Beauty	2 ♥♥
Raticate Farfetch'd Zangoose Absol Empoleon Lucario	Swords Dance	Normal	Status	—	—%	30	Beauty	0
Bold indicates a move that gets STAB Italic indicates a move that gets STAB from an evolution of this Pokémon *Indicates a move only available by chain breeding

By tutoring

Generation III and IV Other generation learnsets: II - III
Game							Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr.	Acc.	PP	Contest	Appeal
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Body Slam	Normal	Physical	85	100%	15	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Counter	Fighting	Physical	—	100%	20	Tough	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Defense Curl	Normal	Status	—	—%	40	Cute	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Double-Edge	Normal	Physical	120	100%	15	Tough	0
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	DynamicPunch	Fighting	Physical	100	50%	5	Cool	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Earth Power	Ground	Special	90	100%	10	Smart	0
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Endure	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Tough	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Fury Cutter	Bug	Physical	10	95%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Knock Off	Dark	Physical	20	100%	20	Smart	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Mimic	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Cute	0
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Mud-Slap	Ground	Special	20	100%	10	Cute	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Psych Up	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Smart	0
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Rock Slide	Rock	Physical	75	90%	10	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Rollout	Rock	Physical	30	90%	20	Tough	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Seismic Toss	Fighting	Physical	—	100%	20	Tough	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Sleep Talk	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Cute	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Snore	Normal	Special	40	100%	15	Cool	3 ♥♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Substitute	Normal	Status	—	—%	10	Smart	1 ♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Swagger	Normal	Status	—	90%	15	Cute	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Swift	Normal	Special	60	—%	20	Cool	2 ♥♥
FR	LG	E	XD	D	P	Pt	Swords Dance	Normal	Status	—	—%	30	Beauty	0
Bold indicates a move that gets STAB Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only from an evolution of this Pokémon A colored initial indicates that the move is not available to be tutored in this game, while a colored background indicates that the move is available.

Side game data

Pokémon Pinball
	Acquisition: Catch
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
	Acquisition: Hatch
Pokémon Trozei!